Apparatus for necking in the ends of containers



Feb. 6, 1940.

R. E. HARWOOD ,004

APPARATUS FOR NECKING IN THE ENDS OE CONTAINERS Filed May 19, 1938 2Sheets-Sheet 1 0?. a? wv a"? W, W( O? ATTORNEYS R. E. HARWOOD 89,004

1 Filed y 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 APPARATUS FOR NECKING IN THE ENDS 0FCONTAINERS Feb. 6, 1940.

iatented Feb. 6, 1 .94%

ca -ED s tar-as AT1-: NT OFFICE armaarus, son NECKING IN THE commas ENDSOF Reyinour Ha rwood,.Kenmore, ,N. Y., assignor to Niagara Machine &Tool Works, Buflalo, N. Y.,

a corporation of New York Application May 19, 1938, Serial'No. 208.809

2 Claims.

so produced being generally either, curled to prom vide a mouth forreceiving a cover or being provided with a flange which is formedinto' arolled seam in which the edge of the bottom is interlocked in the usualmanner. necking: in one end of a container is to enable the containersto be interfltted when stacked, the reduced end of one container fittinginto the larger end of another container thereby to obtain a morecompact. stacking of such containers as well as a more stable stack.

.As now. generally practiced thenecking in of such containers iseflfected by large male and female .dies which are brought together toform a reduced neck at the end of the container. While the containers soformed are satisfactory, this method of necking in the ends of thecontainers has the disadvantages that high production cannot be achievedin so forming the necks bymeans of dies and also that an individual pairof dies is required for each style .of container. disadvantages can beovercome by rolling the neck in the container by means of a pair ofopposed rollersworking from the inside and the outside oi. thecontainer. such rolling methods have not been satisfactory due to crimpsproduced in the neck by the rollers. This crimping and henceobjectionable appearance oi the finished product is due t the fact thatin reducing the diameter of the container the amount of metal is alsoreduced and since the line contact of rollers does not provide for alengthwise. flow of the metal, the excess metal inevitably appearsascrimpings in the reduced neck.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide apparatusfor necking in the ends 45 of such containers which is effected by arolling process, thereby to obta n the advantage oi a higher speed ofproduction and at'the same time produce a neck whichis of smooth surfaceappearance.

Another: object of the invention is to provide such apparatus in whichthe neckis formed with a radially extending flange at the same time thatthe neck is produced, the metal displaced in forming the neckflowinginto this. flange 55 and this flange serving to provide the mateThe necking The purpose of so While such rial for forming a false wireor curl if thenecked in end is to be the mouth of the container orserving to provide the material for forming a seam if the neck isprovided at the-bottom 'of'the container;

Another object of the invention is to provide a mechanism in which theoperating mechanism is rapidly .brought into .operating relation to thecontainer and also; rapidly retracted therefrom, this enabling the highspeed production of such containers.

In the accompanying drawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a machinefornecking in the ends'of containers in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation oi a blank container preparatory to beingnecked in.

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the blank after it has been necked inin accordance with my invention.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section through the machine shown inFig. 1 and showing the container being necked in. a 7 In carryingout'the invention the metal form ing the container is first formed intothe cylindrical blank 5- shown in Fig. 2 which is open at its oppositeends and which may or may not be curled or false wired as indicated at 6in one end. This blank is formed, in accordance with this invention,atone end to provide an inwardly tapering portion "I terminating in acylindrical 'neck 8 of reduced form, an outwardly extending flange 9being formed atthe end of the neck 8. The

flange 9 and neck 8 are, of course, formed from the metal composing theblank 5. After the blank has been formed, as shown in Fig. 3, the flange9 can either be rolled to provide a curl for receiving the usual cover(not shown) or it can circular plate 20 of substant ally the samediameter as the interior of the blank 5 and a lower circular plat-e 2|which at its upper end is preferably the same diameter as the plate 20'and at i s lower end is formed to provide an outwardly pro ecting flange2? for apurpose which will presently appear; The plates 20 and 2| arepref- 2 erably. connected at their edges by a cylinder 23, the oppositeends of this cylinder being preferably welded to the plates and 2|, asindicated The upper plate 20 isprovidedwith acentrak circular opening inwhich is fitted an upper hub 25, the upper plate 20 being secured tothis hub by screws 26.- tween this hub and areduced portion of the postII, the bearing ZIalso. serving as a thrust bearing and hence beingsupported on a shoulder 28' on the post. Y The bearing 21 is alsopreferably held in place by a pair of rings 29 and 30, one of which isscrewed into the hub 25 and the other of which is screwed onto the postIT.

The upper hub 25 is connected to a lower hub I by a sleeve 36 which ispreferably welded to these hubs, the lower hub 35 being secured to the Abearing 31 is interposed The standard l5 carries an overhead circularplate 42 which is arranged coaxial with the post I! and is shown asremovably secured by screws 43 to a constantly rotating hub 44. This hubcan be mounted and driven in any suitable manner,

not shown. In order to insure the proper operative relation between themandrel l8 and the plate 42, a central bushing 451s preferably providedin the hub 44 and this bushing receives a pilot pin 46 at the upper endof the post' 11. The margin of the plate 42 is recessed and in thisrecess are secured, by means of screws 41 or in any other suitablemanner, a plurality of rings which act as dies in forming the neck 8 ofthe container and the flange 9. One of these rings,

4B, is relatively wide and is held against a spacer 49 and the other ofthese rings, 50, is comparatively thick. When the chuck I8 is elevatedby the air cylinder "5, the upper face of the ring engages the lowerface of the ring 50 and it will be observed that in this relation theadjacent faces of the rings 48,. 50 and 40 correspond to the finishedform of the neck I, 8 and flange 9 of the container, these rings servingas the internal die faces in producing this neck.

Between the plate 42 and the air cylinder I 6 the standard l5 of themachine carries a vertically adjustable bracket 55. This bracket is 1formed to provide a horizontal ring 56 through which the chuck I8 movesas it is raised and lowered. This ring 56 carries a ring 5'1 which isformed to provide a seat 58, a loose ring 59 being normally seated onthis seat 58. To prevent f lateral displacement of the loose ring 59 arelatively deep-ring 60 is mounted on the ring 51 and surrounds the seat58. The ring 59 is adapted to be picked up by the flange 22 .of thelower circular plate 2| of the chuck and for this purpose is of .1

smaller internal diameter than the stationaryrings 56 and 51 on whichitis dropped each time the chuck is lowered. The ring 59 also receivesthe lower end of the blank 5 and hence is provided with an internalgroove 6| in which the bead 6 of the container is fitted.

When the chuck I 8 is elevated'the die'rings 48,

50 and 40 are brought into operative relation with a pair of formingrolls 62 and 63. These form ing rolls are shaped to conform to theexterior A bearing 21 is interposed be This ring 40 is ings fl and3'Ibeing provided for this purpose.

ator actuates the .slide 64 by any suitable means 'ment of thecontainer.

of the finished flanged neck of the container and. are mounted upon aslide 64 which, when the container blank is brought intofop'erativeposition, is moved outwardly by anysuitable means (not shown) to formthe neck and flange on the 8 container in accordance with the presentinven tion. I

In operating the machine shown in necking in g the ends of containers inaccordance'withthej present invention, the operator takes one of theblanks 5 and places it in the recess 6| of thef ring 59, this ring beingseated onthe stationary seat'58 at this time. He then introduces airinto the cylinder l6 which elevates the post. I! thereby lifting thechuck. l8. In operation this chuck is rotating since, while it is notpositively driven, its successive engagement with the rotating disk 42in actual operation causes the whirling at rela- 'tively high speed. Thechuck thereby enters the blank 5 and upon its continued elevation thering 59 is caught by theflange 22 of the lower plate 2| so that thisring, together with the blank 5, are lifted from the stationary seat 58andsupported exclusively by the chuck. Uponv the further continuedelevation of the chuck I! ll the pilot pin 46 "enters the bushing 58 andtheupper face of-the die ring 491s brought into en gagement with thelower face 'of the die ring '50 and the piece 'to be worked on isloosely held between the rings 59 and 49. Since the plate 42 carryingthe die ring 50 is constantly rotating, it will be seen that the entirechuck I8 is thereupon positively rotated around the post l1, bear- Aspreviously explained, the whirling of the chuck is continued after thechuck is withdrawn from engagement with the ring'50 and in actualpractice is continuously whirling. After the chuck is engagedwith-the'die "ring 50 the oper- (not shown) to move the forming rolls 92and 93 into engagement with the adjacent end of the blank 5. e

Theinitial effect of the roll is to break the material around the loweredge of the ring 49- and the lower edge of the tapered ring 49 thus to alarge extentrestraining a lengthwise move- Continued inward move-'- mentof the roll 93 reduces the diameter ofthecontainer at this point andtherefore reduces the circumference and amount of metal in acircumfe'rential plane which action causes wrinkles in the relativelythin container wall. However this same movement of the roll causes anincrease in the length of the container wall in a plane I at rightangles to the aforementioned circumferential plane. Since the containeris restrained from moving in a vertical plane the additional metal isobtained by reason of the decrease in metal required in thecircumferential plane. Further restraining of the tendency to .formwrinkles is brought about by the fact that the inner surface of thecontainer fits the outer metal caused by forming the neckprovides an"areaooe I Y endvvisefloworthenietal, the metal I vides a neck tree: fromcrimps. or wrinkles.

so d splaced flowing into and enlarging the flange Q. In the flnalforming operation the'rolls O2 and 03 are brought into the full lineposition shown in P18.

4 which completes the necking operation and prowm be understood that theinternal die rings 58,

v the container. This permits oi a high speed neck- 50 and llldo nothave to engage the interior oi the blank 50 with any particularly greatdegree of precisiongit being essentialqthat the container besupported by.these rings along approximately half 0! its periphery so that the metalcannot crimp sidewise,and'-'!orm wrinkles. when the necking inoperation-has been completed the operator retracts the slide 04 untilthe forming rolls 82 and 63 clear the flange I of the container afterwhich the air pressure in the cylinder I. is relieved to lower the postH. The lowering oi the post i! carries the chuck I8 downwardly.

As the chuck so descends downwardly the loose ning 59 is picked upby'the stationary rings 58 and B1 and since the loose ring It carriesthe Iormed blank, the blank will besupported'by the stationary bracketII as the chuck continues its downward descent to the dotted lineposition shown in Fig. 4. In this dotted line position the chuck issumciently retracted from the necked in container'blank to permit thisblank to be removed and another untormed blank thereby replaced in thegroove {I of the I loose ring 59 V and the operation as above describedrepeated.

From] the foregoing it will be seen that the present invention providesa method of forming containers in which the containers are packed in andflanged by a rolling process without danger of crimping or i'ormingwrinkles in the neck of ing operation particularly withvthe machine asshown in which the container, can be quickly placed in position on theloose ring after which the chuck can be quickly elevated to its operative position and the rolling oi! the neck effected. While I have shownone form oi! the invention it will be appreciated that the invention isnot to be limited to any particular detail illustrated and is to beaccorded theiullrange otequivalents comprehended by the accompanyingclaims.

I claim as my invention:

' 1. A mechanism for necking in the ends'ot cylindrical sheet metalcontainers, comprising a standard, a vertical post --mounted on said a 7standard, means for moving said post vertically,

said post and moved vertically therewith, said cylindrical forming diebeing o! substantially the same diameter as the internal diameter ofsaid container and the upper end thereof being provided with a neck ofreduced diameter, abracket ring secured to said standard and throughwhich said die is moved, a movable ring provided with a groove adaptedtoreceive the lower rim of said container and loosely mounted on saidbracket ring,-said forming die being provided with an extension adaptedto engage and pick up saidgrooved ring when said forming die is elevatedto its extreme upward position, means for rotating-said die, a formingroll arranged to engage the exterior of said container adjacent saidneck and to displace thematerial of said container inwardly against saidneck and means for moving I said roll toward and from said die.

r 2. A mechanism for necking in the ends of cylindrical sheet metalcontainers, comprising a standard, a vertical post mounted on saidstandard.,means for moving said post vertically,

, a cylindrical forming die rotatably mounted on said post. and movedvertically therewith, said \with an extension adapted to engage and pickup said grooved ringwhen said forming die is elevated to its extremeupward position, a second forming die arranged over said first formingdie and coaxial therewith, said second forming die being provided with aportion of reduced diameter adapted to enter the end of said containerand engage the end of said first forming die when said first Iorming dieis elevated, means for continuously rotating said second forming diethereby to rotate said first forming die and container when said firstforming die is so elevated, a forming roll. arranged to engage theexterior of said container at the area adjacent the place 01' junctureof said forming dies to displace the-material of said container againstthe reduced portion oi said second forming die and the neck of saidfirst forming die and means for moving said forming roll toward and fromsaid forming dies.

I REYMOUR E. EAR-WOOD.

